Chapter 701
Chapter 701
Gilbert quickly shouted, "Sabrina, open the door now!"
Sabrina immediately unlocked the iron door, and Jack stumbled in, covered in dirt and looking completely worn out.
"What happened?" Gilbert asked in shock.
Catching his breath, Jack reported, "The Mind Control Elixir from the New World Alliance has started working. Some warriors with weak Spiritual Energy are turning on each other. Right now, the Elite Alliance headquarters is full of burning, killing, and looting!"
Gilbert's eyes widened as he instantly pulled up a holographic map.
"Sophia!" My heart tightened with worry for Sophia, Lily, Mia, Ava, Isabella, and the others, fearing they might be in danger too.
Like them, I stared intently at the holographic display.
The holographic map struggled to load amidst distorted energy waves, but the images it showed were more terrifying than any horror movie.
The once orderly Elite Alliance headquarters had turned into a living hell!
The screen was split into dozens of small windows, each showing scenes of blood and madness.
In the training area, former comrades had bloodshot eyes, tearing into each other like mindless beasts. Energy blades slashed at training dummies, sparks flying, but more often, they struck the unprotected backs of allies. Blood stained the alloy floors, and screams were drowned out by even crazier roars.
In the medical bay, staff in white coats were either curled up in corners trembling or grabbing scalpels and syringes, grinning wickedly as they attacked helpless patients on hospital beds. In one window, a young nurse was tightly strangling a wounded soldier with a tourniquet, her face twisted with sick pleasure.
In the residential corridors, a few logistics staff were frantically hacking at alloy doors with fire axes, howling incomprehensible noises. Faint cries of women and children could be heard from behind the doors.
Outside the energy core, a squad of warriors who still had some sanity left formed a defensive line, desperately holding back a group of completely crazed comrades. The energy shield flickered under a storm of attacks, warriors kept falling, and the line was on the verge of collapse. Among the attackers was their once-familiar captain!
The camera feed from the air control tower was pitch black, with only piercing alarms and a few desperate, abruptly cut-off screams echoing through. It meant the tower had completely fallen.
Blood! Chaos! Madness! Death!
This was the effect of the Mind Control Elixir—it amplified the deepest fears, anger, jealousy, and bloodlust in people's hearts, turning them into a frenzy of destruction. The weaker someone's Spiritual Energy, the easier they were consumed by it.
"Damn it!" Gilbert slammed his fist into the nearby control panel, denting the metal shell instantly. His eyes burned with rage as he growled, "This is the disaster left by those monsters from the Harrison family! A dirty trick by the New World Alliance!"
Jack, still panting, spoke with fear and anger in his voice, "It's mental corruption! Spreading like a plague! Our crew on the 'Siren' suddenly went insane! They started attacking each other! I barely made it here! Outside, we can't hold on much longer! If this continues, we'll wipe ourselves out before the New World Alliance even attacks!"
I asked, "What about Ronnie's Awakener Legion?"
Jack swallowed hard and replied, "Their legion has been under our Elite Alliance's control, and for days, they've been at the center of this slaughter!"
"Days?" I was stunned. "Didn't we just get to the basement a little while ago?"
Sabrina said, "We've been in the basement for four days!"
I had been so focused on activating the Control Spirit Crystal that I completely lost track of time!
A sense of despair filled the basement.
Even though the Control Spirit Crystal was activated, and a towering beam of light signaled my success, this internal madness and slaughter was like a parasite, eating away at the alliance from within!
The power I had just gained seemed too late to stop this mental plague spreading across the headquarters!
The silver runes on my body started flowing faster, like a rushing river of stars.
My eyes, burning with silver flames, were no longer cold and detached. They carried a mix of insight, compassion, and authority as they slowly scanned each bloody window on the holographic display.
I saw former comrades killing each other in the training area, a nurse strangling a patient with a tourniquet in the medical bay, crazed people hacking at doors in the corridors, and desperate warriors on a crumbling defensive line... Every scene felt like a red-hot iron branding my soul.
I had just gained power strong enough to shake the world, yet I had to watch the place I swore to protect turn into a battlefield of self-destruction?
No!
"Aether Blood..." My low voice echoed, no longer a pained cry but carrying a strange resonance. It cut through the roaring energy of the Control Spirit Crystal, ringing clearly in every corner of the basement, "Govern all things!"
My final words sounded like a divine command!
The massive core of the Control Spirit Crystal floating in front of me suddenly burst with an unprecedented brilliant silver light!
This light wasn't the violent energy surge from before. It was like the purest, softest moonlight, yet it held an ultimate, unshakable will!
The silver light spread instantly, not as physical light but as a pure Spiritual Energy field!
It ignored the thick walls and alloy ceilings, moving at a speed beyond physical laws, covering the entire Elite Alliance headquarters and even beyond in an instant!
In the moment this silver light touched everything, time seemed to slow down!
On the holographic display, the frenzied slashing movements froze. The twisted, savage expressions on people's faces lost their blood-red madness as if a tide was receding. What replaced it was confusion, fear, and disbelief as clarity returned!
In the training area, a warrior's energy blade stopped just an inch from his comrade's neck. The redness in his eyes faded quickly. He looked at the terrified face under his blade, then at his blood-covered hands, and let out a broken howl, "No!"
In the medical bay, the nurse strangling the soldier with a tourniquet froze. She stared at her tight grip, then at the soldier's purple face from suffocation. The madness in her eyes vanished, replaced by endless fear and regret. Her hands loosened, and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
In the corridors, the fire axes dropped to the floor. The crazed people regained clear eyes, staring at the mangled alloy doors and hearing the terrified cries from inside. They covered their faces in shame.
Outside the energy core, the frenzied warriors charging the defensive line stopped dead in their tracks. The bloodlust in their eyes faded. They looked at the weapons aimed at their former comrades, then at the tired, angry faces behind the line. Confused and lost, their weapons slipped from their hands and clattered to the ground. The defenders also froze, warily watching these suddenly "calm" enemies, unsure how to react.
The camera feed from the air control tower flickered back on. A few shaken staff sat on the ground, their trembling voices coming through the comms, "The mental interference just disappeared? We're still alive?"
The madness vanished like a receding tide.
What remained was a devastated battlefield, congealed blood, the stunned aftermath of survival, and the heart-wrenching pain and regret of looking at hands stained with the blood of comrades or innocents.